All WWII GIs were Type O

[snopes]

Comment: All GIs during WWII were identified as having Type O blood on
their dogtags so it would facilitate giving blood to them.

Someone told me this as a fact that a dogtag misidentified the blood type
of a relative in WWII and then told me this was done for all the GIs.
This really smacks of an urban legend.

[me, no really]

I'm not really sure what the point in doing this would be. My understanding is that if you are in a traumatic incident chances are the first blood that you will given will be type O regardless of your own blood type, specifically because type O can be given to anyone without causing a reaction. It is only once you are out of the immediate emergency and in a situation where blod typing is feasible that you will be given properly typed blood. Ambulances only carry type O. I would think that in the war similar rules would have applied. A casualty would have ben given type O until they were stabilised as it is easier for an emergency person to carry one type of blood. Later on when feasible they would be given the correct match.

me

[geminilee]

It sounds like it could be dangerous in a situation where supplies were low and transfusions were needed. If all the dog-tags say type O, you cannot just grab a healthy body and transfuse to someone with matching blood.

[Casey]

Not a chance. Besides the fact that I've seen many a WW2 dogtag that said A, B or AB, as well as the Rh factor, this makes no medical sense.

Giving O- is all well and good. Everybody likes it, it's ice cream for the cardiovascular system. In the US, though, that's only 6.6% of people. Granted, that seems downright common compared to the negative groups and AB+ at under 6.5% each, but there's still a massive pool of blood out there they'd be ignoring.

O+ is most common, 37.4%. Next, A+, nearly the same, then B+ at about 18%. It makes pure medical sense to save the rare, all-encompassing good stuff for when you need it, and use the more common stuff when you have it instead.

That's not taking into account the possibility of a mistake. Granted, you can't screw up giving O- to everyone, but going the other way is an issue. If the dogtags all say O-, they should match. A very messy and potentially lethal reaction will prove they don't.

[snopes]

Perhaps this is someone's garbled understanding of a statement that the first-line medical units stocked only type O blood?

Really, if you're going to list everyone as Type O, why include any blood type listing at all?

- snopes

[me, no really]

I haven't had time to look through it, but there seems to be a comprehensive reference on US blood procedures in WW2 here

me

[Floater]

The OP so got it so garbled. Type 0 can donate blood to A, B and AB, but can only receive 0. Type AB can recieve from 0, A and B but can only donate to AB.

[franjava]

Originally Posted by me, no really

Ambulances only carry type O.

Your ambulances carry blood?!?! Awesome.

[Ali Infree]

All I can say is that my father's WWII dogtags listed his blood type as B positive.


Ali

[The Goof]

Don't know if this helps, but my Grandfather's WWII tags list him as O+ not just O.

[FullMetal]

not only that but it would be a big disservice, my great uncle was a doctor in the italian campaign. the blood type on dog-tags weren't just so you know what blood to give them, but what blood can be taken from them... healthy soldiers were occasionally emergency blood donors... and it would be bad if you had to test everyone to find a compatible donor...

[MapleLeaf]

Originally Posted by The Goof

Don't know if this helps, but my Grandfather's WWII tags list him as O+ not just O.

It does help. O+ is a different blood type than O (which is usually taken to mean O- )

[PointySextant]

Even assuming this was true, existing records and dog tags to the contrary, someone probably should have told the GI's, as there are clear records of American GI's continuing the tradition of taping pieces of paper with their blood type to their uniform before heading towards the enemy line.

This is pretty much moot to be honest because the primary immediate medical procedure for most of the war was not a blood transfusion but a plasma transfusion, as plasma could be shipped more easily and was considered to be more efficient in the short run as an infusion. There's a very specific reason that the initial supply shipment for the Invasion of Africa included a massive shipment of plasma. This is cited and explained pretty well in the first book of Atkinson's Liberation Trilogy, An Army At Dawn.